Disclaimer here: no need to bring morality or other emotional factors into the equation.
We need to ask Thomas Allen to move on. He was downright terrible on both ends last year and a questionable addition from the jump from a fit and talent perspective. Additionally, Keatts has shown an inability to distribute minutes appropriately between vets and young guys. Not necessarily Allen's problem, but something we're just stuck with. Allen and Braxton were huge blockers to getting Shak, Cam and Seabron big minutes. Only when those two went down, did things open up and we started to see some development (and wins). We had wing players who could actually create offense and defend up. I.e., defend bigger guys, be disruptive in passing lanes, apply REAL (versus token) full-court pressure. Braxton played nicely in his reserve role (which is where he should have always been but for the roster gaps and Keatts' insisting on playing him excessively). I see no place for Allen in next year's rotation with the three sophs coming back and breon/terq on the roster. Maybe a 10 to 15 min per night back up role to catch and shoot. But if he's coming back to play 30+ mins again, then this will be a big drag on next year's team and future development (more transfers out, continue to miss on transfers in, etc.).
Seems unlikely that Allen blocked us from getting Fleming or Gardner, but we should think about going ahead and opening the roster spot up asap.
We need to ask Thomas Allen to move on. He was downright terrible on both ends last year and a questionable addition from the jump from a fit and talent perspective. Additionally, Keatts has shown an inability to distribute minutes appropriately between vets and young guys. Not necessarily Allen's problem, but something we're just stuck with. Allen and Braxton were huge blockers to getting Shak, Cam and Seabron big minutes. Only when those two went down, did things open up and we started to see some development (and wins). We had wing players who could actually create offense and defend up. I.e., defend bigger guys, be disruptive in passing lanes, apply REAL (versus token) full-court pressure. Braxton played nicely in his reserve role (which is where he should have always been but for the roster gaps and Keatts' insisting on playing him excessively). I see no place for Allen in next year's rotation with the three sophs coming back and breon/terq on the roster. Maybe a 10 to 15 min per night back up role to catch and shoot. But if he's coming back to play 30+ mins again, then this will be a big drag on next year's team and future development (more transfers out, continue to miss on transfers in, etc.).
Seems unlikely that Allen blocked us from getting Fleming or Gardner, but we should think about going ahead and opening the roster spot up asap.
